Viruses..

No not the swine flu virus. The whine flu virus. I feel like whining for a minute. I had two nasty viruses on my computer. :( At least I have a computer savvy hubbie who can fix these things. :) So Becky - that's why you ended up with a rather questionable IM from me. I wasn't even IMing anyone until you asked later last night. Interesting. Which would explain why I got a rather questionable IM from Carrie as well. Somebody out there has way to much time on their hands....

An experiment...

I am trying a new experiment. After doing some online research I decided to give it a go. I will try my experiment faithfully for 1 month and decide if it's working for me or not. Then I will post what the experiment was and my experience. You will just have to be patient! :)

Girls, girls, girls....and their moms....

I had a really nice morning today. Our Achievement Day girls had breakfast with their moms for a Mother's Day activity. All of them came except for one girl we couldn't reach. We (the Primary Presidency) made breakfast and served the moms and daughters. I can't wait for next year when we can do it again!


Now....we just need to figure out a wheelchair friendly outdoor activity for the daughters to do with their fathers in the fall! :)

Topsy Turvy Summer....

And summer isn't even here yet! We had some fun plans this summer. One of them was going camping with Russell's family. If I still have a tent when some boys and hubbie leave - I am going camping any way. Russell came home from church Sunday and announced he is going with Donovan to Scout camp this summer. From July 18-25. Right when Russell's family is camping. :( And our anniversary. :(

BUT - there is good news. He can take Christopher with them since he (the dad) is going! Maybe Chris' attitude will change for the better after being able to pass some stuff off.....

I hope.

Man the house will sure be quiet with only two boys....At least they entertain each other really well.

What to do...

I have a certain 6 year old going on 60. He is going through a phase that is driving me up a wall rather quickly. He has this notion that it is okay to tell Russell or I "I don't have to." Or a flat out "NO" when being told to get ready for school, eat breakfast, brush teeth, etc. He got a spanking this morning and his mouth slapped. And lost computer privileges for a week because of a whole lot of mouthing back this morning. I am open to suggestions. Or you can just have this certain 6 year old until he turns 7 or 8. :) Vent over.

Oh Happy Day!

My white tulips bloomed this year! They are so beautiful. I have come to the conclusion that life would be dull with flowers to care for, look at, admire and just plain enjoy.

What to do with little boys...

It would seem every year we have a problem with little boys and a not so little boy disturbing the bird nests and eggs. I found a robin egg in the middle of the yard. I moved it so a friend could drive his little tractor over the yard to till the garden. Then Nephi informed me Christopher threw the nest over the fence the other day. We went to retrieve it. The egg won't survive since I moved it to avoid being smooshed.
I think Russell needs to have a talk with certain boys about not destroying other creatures homes. I feel bad for this egg. It will never hatch. It will never grow into a robin. It will never taste a juicy worm. It will never know the freedom of flying. It will never sing.
I will take it to school Friday to Nephi's kindergarten class. They are studying eggs and hatching chicken eggs. They will find it fascinating I think.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Oh wait! It's not Christmas time. My most favorite, wonderful time of the year. It's spring! My most favorite, wonderful time of the year.

We have about 5 different hummingbirds that have taken up residence in our neighborhood. They like it here. I am glad. I could be content just watching them all day long. But then my house would be a disaster. This week it's okay. I am on vacation. No - really. I am. The job rotation says so.

This little fellow likes to perch on the hanging basket and sit for a good length of time. At least long enough for me to watch THEN go get my camera AND still be there when I come back. I zoomed in from my kitchen window.

Michael's very special day.

In our church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - we don't have children baptized until they are 8 years old. We believe they aren't held accountable for right from wrong before that age. Michael turned 8 today. He was also baptized today. We had lots and lots of family in town to celebrate with us and to encourage Michael on his road back to Heavenly Father.

Michael and Russell. Michael has been waiting and waiting for this day forever. At least that is what he kept telling us!

Russell, Candace and Michael.

After Michael's baptism. All of Russell's extended family was able to be there and my Mom and Dennis were able to fly up from Utah. L-R Amdal family, Zaugg family, Zaugg family, Sheppard family, Rogers family, Zaugg family.

We had soup simmering and french bread all ready to go when we got home from church. I hurried and made up some punch and we were good to go. Here is most everyone enjoying their dinner. Things are pretty casual at our house. Not a lot of space. But enough to enjoy each other's company. Which is what we did. There have been requests for recipes for the soups.

Chicken Noodle Soup http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/chicken-soup-with-homemade-noodles.html

Lasagna Soup http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/lasagna-soup.html

Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/olive-gardens-zuppa-tuscana.html

Party Punch http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/party-punch.html

French Bread http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/french-breadsandwich-rolls.html

Michael requested lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting. I made this recipe http://candaceskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/lemon-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese.html because I had made it before and he really loved it.

Blowing out all 8 candles.

After all that yummy food Grandpa and Grandma Zaugg needed a little nap. They did have a long drive over this morning so they deserved it. Nighty nite!

Grandpa and Grandma Rogers decided they needed to work off their dinner. They got busy doing dishes.

All the younger grandkids having a blast playing air hockey while Uncle Erich looks on!

Most of the older kids and aunts and uncles were having fun watching something funny on the computer. Everyone had a great time.

Michael turns 8! Isn't that great!

We had Michael open a couple of his presents this morning because he needed one of them for church.

Here he is looking at his new scriptures! He is so excited to have his very own set now.

Now that he is eight - he is also in Cub Scouts!

My brand new cub scout. What a handsome boy. Not that I am biased or anything.

Michael's birthday dinner.

Michael turns 8 on Easter Sunday. This means he will get baptized. So....we had our Easter dinner Friday night and Michael's birthday dinner last night. He wanted Chinese food. So....
we made...

L-R Pork and Prawns, Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken in the front. He loves Kung Pao Chicken. As long as he can....

be with family.....

and eat with chopsticks....

he is a happy boy! :)

My little builder...

Michael has this really super handy knack of looking at an object or a drawing and re-creating it. Either by drawing it or building it. He worked hard today building a Lego replica of a little log cabin that belongs to his dad. And everything he makes is almost always to scale! I am always amazed. And he isn't even 8 yet!

I just have to squish them!

My sister-in-law had a couple of pics she just forwarded to me. This was one of them. This is Nephi oh about 4 years ago. See those cheeks? I just want to squish them! See what there is of baby fat? I want to just squish that too! My baby is 6 1/2 now and doesn't like being squished. Ever.

Should have known...

A couple of the boys woke up grumpy this morning. One because he almost always does. The other surprised me. He is usually happy go lucky.

Fast forward about 1 1/2 hours from breakfast. I get a call from grumpy boy's school. He looks kind of green and says he needs to throw up.

It was Michael. He has a fever. :( He didn't have one when I sent him off this morning. Nor did he complain he needed to throw up. He did make a trip to the bathroom though almost immediately after getting back home. He is fast asleep.

"Will you wake me up for lunch?" he says. At least he thinks his appetite is still working.

My job...

I love my job. First and foremost I am a wife and mother. But - when the kids all go off to school for the day I am a skin care consultant. From spending about 1 hour on the computer this morning I made $200. You can check out my website here....

http://www.marykay.com/czaugg/default.aspx

Got toothpaste?

All the boys and Russell finished getting their teeth cleaned yesterday. No cavaties. Nada. Nothing! A few of the boys needed sealants - but nothing major. Woohoo! I think I could count on one hand how many cavaties between all four boys. Maybe 4. I can't get in until the end of April.

I had to chuckle though. Right before Michael was done another little boy came out to his grandma. She asked how many cavaties? He said none. Then the dentist came out. It turns out this boy had so many cavaties the grandma had to schedule 4 appointments for them to be filled. I would have made only one appointment and let the kid suffer for a day or two. Cuz I am so mean! When Michael came out the grandma asked if he had any cavaties. We told her no. Then she really was upset with her grandson. Not in a physical kind of way. Just a "I'm diasappointed in you." kind of way. He tried to blame her. That didn't fly. Then he told her he needed a special toothbrush so he wouldn't get cavaties. The dentist said "If it will make him brush then get it." The toothbrush was one of those battery kind that run about $50-$60. Glad he wasn't MY kid!
Then Michael thought he should ask for one too. I told him the only things he needed to brush were the toothbrush he just got from the dentist AND his own two hands. He was disappointed I am sure.

Donovan gets to take a trip to the orthodontist on Monday though. He lost the teeth that needed to come out. Now some permanent ones get to be pulled. I have a feeling we will be making many trips from now on over the mountain. At least the weather is getting nicer.

A really great thing about our new dental plan is $5 co-pays at the dentist and $0 (yes zero) co-pay at the orthodontist. We pay a flat $1500 for braces. Whoohoo!